Packers pick Finco for executive committee

Susan Finco, owner of Leonard & Finco Public Relations, is poised to join the Green Bay Packers executive committee in August, when the 42-member board of directors will vote on the recommendation.

Finco will be the executive committee's first female member. She will succeed Larry Weyers, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. Executive committee member Thomas Olson will succeed Weyers as lead director.

Primary responsibility for running the team's non-football operations is concentrated in the seven-member committee. It sets policy for the Packers and keeps watch over the administrative side of the organization. It meets monthly or more often if needed. The board of directors meets quarterly.

Finco joined the Packers' board in December 2000. She chairs the Community Relations committee, which oversees such things as donations, player appearances, care packages to military service members and the Packers Tailgate Tour.

Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy said executive committee members are chosen for their skills and experience, such as marketing, finance or public relations.

Mark Murphy(Photo: File)

"I really think a lot of Susan. She is talented and deserves this," Murphy said. She was chosen "obviously, for her experience on the board and in particular as chair of the community relations committee, her public relations work and even her broadcast work. We are in the news a lot. Broadcast is important."

Finco said the main goal of the committee is to ensure the Packers remain financially viable so they can field successful teams.

"It is a large responsibility, and everyone takes it seriously," she said. "It's nice to have diversity on the executive committee leadership group. Hopefully my area of expertise will broaden the expertise of the committee."

Finco was a broadcast journalist for WBAY-TV and WFRV-TV for 15 years before launching Leonard & Finco Public Relations 23 years ago with Charlie Leonard, who retired in 2000. The company works with businesses in manufacturing, energy, architecture, government, engineering, retail, entertainment, construction, transportation and health care. One of its specialties is crisis management.

Weyers joined the executive committee in 2004. He was named treasurer in 2005 and lead director in 2010. Murphy said Weyers provided a "good, steady hand" through the many changes affecting the Packers. "I think that's why the organization is in such good shape," he said.

The lead director works closely with Murphy and leads the larger board of directors.

Among the challenges he faced during his tenure, Weyers included choosing Murphy to succeed Bob Harlan and John Jones as team president, the Brett Favre retirement controversy, a number of high-level personnel changes, and guiding the organization through a high-growth period.

"We've had some tough decisions to make. We've become much more than just a football operation," Weyers said. "We've got all these other businesses we are tending to plus all the development that's going on."

Highlights of his time as lead director include the Super Bowl XLV victory in 2011 and recent expansion of Lambeau Field.

The only new member proposed for election to the board of directors this year is former Packers player and long-time broadcaster Larry McCarren.

"Not many players have had as much impact on the organization as Larry," Murphy said. "It reminds you of the days of Tony Canadeo and some of those guys."

Shareholders will vote on new and renominated directors during their annual meeting on July 28 at Lambeau Field.

The Packers are the NFL's only publicly owned franchise. The team has 360,584 stockholders and 42 directors. Six directors are female, probably the most in the team's 96-year-history.

— Contact rryman@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @RichRymanPG or on Facebook at Richard Ryman-Press-Gazette. Or call him at (920) 431-8342.

Green Bay Packers executive committee

Green Bay Packers executive committee members are:

•Mark Murphy, Packers president.

• Larry Weyers, vice president and lead director. He is the retired CEO of Integrys Energy Group.